Dubai International Airport, or DXB, which became the world’s busiest hub for international travel in 2019 has returned to 100 percent operational capacity, fueled by increased travel demands and is even projected that it might cross 2018 pre-pandemic levels, according to media reports.
Paul Griffiths, CEO of Dubai Airports, the operator of DXB told the media, “The rate of recovery of DXB has exceeded most other airports of comparable size and highlights the positive international reputation that Dubai has as an attractive city that has taken decisive steps to protect its visitors and residents. The number of visitors to Dubai is likely to exceed pre-pandemic levels during the final few weeks of the year which is an excellent milestone on our journey towards full recovery. Reaching the point where 100% of our facilities are now open and serving customers, plus the huge resurgence in passengers arriving into Dubai marks an important milestone for the aviation sector as well as for the city of Dubai and its economic growth.”
The airport which has handled 86.4 million in 2019, shut down its operations in March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, before gradually started resuming its operations gradually from June last year. It is also expected that Dubai airport will see more than one million and DXB handled 1 million passengers per week in November, with origin-destination passengers reaching 94 percent of its pre-pandemic levels.
During the first half of 2021, traffic at DXB reached 10.6 million passengers and it is expected to reach 28.9 million by the end of the year, 2.1 million more than the September 2021 forecast. In Dubai 2020, Dubai International Airport handled a total of 25.9 million passengers.